Profit from blog

How To Really Profit from Your Blog? My Personal Monetization and Traffic Strategies

Making a profit as a blogger is 100% doable. I’ve been making a living out of blogging and affiliate marketing since 2004.

Even though things have changed a lot in the last 12 years, it is still possible to start and run a profitable blog. The competition is steeper and bloggers have to multitask in many ways they didn’t before.

For example, when the heyday of blogging first took hold, one could simply write posts, pay attention to keywords, do a few cross-promotions and easily attract new readers. Today, there is a lot more competition and social media has come into the mix in ways we didn’t expect a decade ago.

Google also has become pretty harsh with web marketers and SEO experts. They constantly change algorithms and make it harder for the little guy to make a dent in the search engine results. More often than not, Google basically labels SEOs as villains.

However, there is still plenty of room to run a successful blog. You simply have to find new and smarter ways to reach readers and become profitable.

Doubt you can still make a living at blogging? In May 2016, Harsh Agrawal made over $28,000 blogging and Pat Flynn earned over $150,000 online. One of the key things that Flynn and Harsh do is to have multiple revenue streams. They are both not reliant on only one stream, but utilizes everything from book sales and direct advertising to affiliate earnings to podcast sponsorships.

So, how can you repeat my success and that of people like Pat Flynn and Harsh Agrawal?

First – you need to be in a profitable niche

You can’t just randomly choose a niche and assume you’ll make money at it. You need to choose a topic you can monetize easily.

Yes, having passion for the topic you’re writing about is important – hey, you’ll be blogging about that topic for years – but it’s equally important that there is money flowing into that niche.

Use Google Adwords to see how many advertisers there in your niche and the average click rate for different keywords.

Use Spyfu to check how much advertisers are spending in your selected industry – the more the better.

Login to an affiliate network like CJ.com and search for relevant merchants – check if their Network Earnings (the green bar) are good.

If the potential profits look promising, proceed. If not, brainstorm other niches you’d be interested in writing about.

Real life examples –

Advertisers are paying $5.30 per click for the keyword “Self Publishing”. Can you create a blog that goes around this topic?